


Pushing Buttons

by HalfASlug



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 08:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10850529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalfASlug/pseuds/HalfASlug
Summary: A rough case has everyone working hard, but Hardy is pushing himself to the limit.





	Pushing Buttons

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from sandfordsmostwanted on tumblr: stressed or overtired.
> 
> There's brief mentions of blood and injuries.

Ellie had always been good at spotting a liar. It was one of things that helped her rise up through the ranks over the years. When a suspect gave her a dodgy feeling, she had learned to trust her instinct. Even if they didn’t turn out to be the criminal she was after, they were nearly always up to no good. **  
**

The only real exception had been her husband.

That was in the past though. Now, she was tougher. Less trusting. Now, when she was looking evil in the eye, she knew it.

She felt it now. Across the table from her sat a man smirking his way through an interview. His bravado did nothing to make Ellie forget the pictures in the folder on the table.

In all her years of police work, Ellie had seen the aftermaths of drunken fights and vicious attacks, but nothing compared to state of the young woman that had been found in the early hours of the previous Saturday. Nearly a week later and she still wasn’t able to be interviewed.

If all of the evidence and statements they had meticulously collected since had shown them anything, it was that the beating had happened at random.

“We found this at the scene,” Hardy said, dropping an evidence bag onto the table. “Recognise it?”

Ellie reeled off the evidence tag for the tape as the suspect continued to smirk at Hardy. He didn’t even glance at the blood covered train ticket they knew to be his.

“Nope.”

“You haven’t looked at it.” The knuckles of Hardy’s right fist shone white as he held the clear bag in front of the man. “Try again!”

The suspect sighed. “Can’t really see it under all the blood.”

Hardy slammed the bag down onto the table making her jump. “You think you’re being funny? Do you?”

It went against every rule in the book and several more that she had decided for herself, but Ellie placed a hand on Hardy’s thigh as subtly as she could. If the suspect noticed, it could derail the entire interrogation. However, she didn’t need to feel the tight muscles under her palm to know Hardy was more on edge than she had seen in a long time.

The entire team had been working flat out. Ellie hadn’t spent more time at home than it took to sleep and shower, only speaking to her children over the phone. The brutality of attack had shaken them all.

Hardy had taken it to an entirely other level. With Daisy spending a couple of weeks abroad with her mother, he saw no reason to ever go home, choosing instead to sleep in his office. His already short fuse had all but disappeared. At first Ellie would receive apologies for his outbursts but he’d barely acknowledged she was a human, let alone his girlfriend, for three days.

It was terrifying to see how quickly he could revert back to his old habits. At least with Danny’s murder and Sandbrook she could understand why he was so worked up; he believed he was going to die after all. This time, with a case that wasn’t personal and with everything to live for, she saw little reason for his behaviour.

It yielded results though. She doubted the team would have put the pieces together quite as fast without his determination and keen mind. It was as impressive as it was worrying.

“A woman is half-dead in a hospital bed!” Hardy yelled, her comforting touch having no effect. “Get that shit eating grin off your face!”

The suspect laughed. It was a cold sound that raised the hairs on the back of Ellie’s neck.

“Or what?”

A vein was pulsing in Hardy’s forehead. Ellie thought he might have been so angry he had forgotten how to speak. Really, though, she should have known him long enough to realise her was at his most loquacious whilst furious.

“Or I will personally make sure that when they lock you up - because they _will_ be locking you up - that you won’t be out until your wee children will be old enough to understand what a waste of skin their father is and will want nothing to do with you.”

For the first time since he entered police custody, the man looked anything other than smug. As Hardy spoke, he grew visibly angry and Ellie’s grip on his thigh tightened.

“Don’t talk about my kids,” he growled.

“I’ll tell them,” Hardy gloated, teeth bared. “I’ll tell them how daddy is a monster.”

“DI Hardy-”

“How the world would better off without scum like him.”

“Hardy!”

“How he will rot in a cell and no one will miss him.”

The suspect rose to his feet and Hardy followed. Usually he towered over people, but now he appeared twig-like next to the man before him. For one wild moment, Ellie thought a punch would be thrown. Instead, the suspect sat back down.

“I want my lawyer.”

Before Hardy could respond, Ellie gathered up the various files and evidence bags on the table. “Interview terminated at eight-oh-six PM.”

She slammed the stop button on the tape and yanked Hardy’s sleeve until he moved. He maintained eye contact with the suspect until the door snapped shut behind him.

“What the hell was that?” she hissed at him as she stormed back to CID. “We’ve got him banged to rights. There’s no need to threaten him!”

“He gets under my skin, Miller.” His long strides meant he soon overtook her. “That evil glint in his eye. If we can get him to confess-”

“We don’t need that! We just need to break his false alibi!”

“If I could just have had five more minutes-”

“You’d have got yourself beaten up!”

They rounded the corner into the incident room and every face in the room turned to them. Most were watching Hardy, waiting for an update, but Ellie stood in front of him. She tamped down her fury and did her best to sound professional.

“He’s asked for legal representation. We knew this was coming. Nixon, if you could try and get hold of lawyer. We’ve still got to chase up that dog walker and double check CCTV from the car park. Katie-”

“Already on both of them, Ellie.”

“Good.” Ellie nodded and smiled. “We can’t touch him until his representation gets here so we’ll let him fester in custody. Everyone who hasn’t been home today, get some rest. If there’s any developments, call my mobile.”

Fully aware of the perplexed reaction to the abrupt end to her speech, Ellie weaved through the crowd towards the exit, Hardy’s hand clutched in hers. She knew there would be teasing later on, when everyone was less tense, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Miller, what are you doing?” Hardy asked as they entered the staircase. “We’ve only got him for-”

Ellie didn’t break stride when he tried to pull her to a halt. “Let him stew.”

“He’s-”

“I don’t care!” She whipped around and was shocked by how close his face was. She hadn’t seen him this close up in days. Between his grey complexion and dark bags under red rimmed eyes, he looked terrible. “You are coming home with me right now before your pacemaker explodes!”

She slammed into the door that led to the car park and yanked his arm so he would follow. It was a sign as to how tired he was that they were almost at her car before he found his voice.

“This is my investigation and-”

“You will probably keel over before we can charge him if you carry on!” she screamed at him, her words echoing against the concrete of the cavernous room. “It’s not happening on my watch now _get in the fucking car!_ ”

His chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath before throwing himself into the passenger seat. Ellie closed her eyes and counted to five before getting in herself.

The short drive home was silent. She didn’t even bother putting the radio on. The familiar journey flew past the window, calming Ellie somewhat. It was only when she checked her mirrors and spotted Hardy slumped against the window that she remembered she was annoyed. By the time she parked outside her house, he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

It reminded her of Fred when she gently shook his arm to wake him with a small jump. The comparison made her smile sadly.

“C’mon,” she whispered as he blearily looked around. “We’re here.”

It was rare for Hardy to stay over at her house, especially while her boys were home. Their relationship was still new and she didn’t want them feeling uncomfortable in their own home. Hardy understood and always checked before he came over.

“You don’t need to do this,” Hardy grumbled as she unlocked the front door. “I can just-”

“Shut up.” She shoved him in the house before he could complain further. “Get upstairs.”

He slipped his shoes off and plodded upstairs with his coat still on, muttering under his breath.

Ellie removed her own coat and spotted the other reason she was reluctant to have Hardy at her house watching her from the kitchen doorway.

Her father eyed Hardy’s feet disappear upstairs with raised eyebrows. “Oh, so this is that kind of visit, is it?”

“Don’t be so vulgar,” she snapped and stormed into the living room. “Freddie! What are you still doing up?”

Ellie spent the next hour eating warmed up leftovers while talking to Tom. Fred fell asleep on her lap and she felt guilty for not taking him straight to bed. Her little boy was growing up so quickly and she feared she was missing it. The days when he would cuddle up to her like he was were fading and she knew it.

Eventually, she could barely keep her own eyes open and Tom shooed away her apologies. The attack had been all over the news and he was old enough to understand what it took for her to help catch the bastard responsible. Though she was grateful for Tom’s growing maturity, she wondered when he stopped being a child.

Once she had tucked Fred in, Ellie padded to her own room, ready to collapse in whatever space Hardy had left her.

Fortunately, when she opened the door, she discovered that was most of the bed as he was still sat, fully clothed on the edge, waiting for her.

“For God’s sake,” she sighed, noticing he had at least removed his coat. “Why are you still awake?”

He blinked and raised his head to look at her as though he had heard a noise in the distance. “Not tired.”

The mixture of his gravelly voice and bleary eyes broke her heart. She had never seen him look quite so pathetic.

She walked up to him, the dregs of her anger fading with every step, until she could fold him in a hug, his head pressed against her chest. He burrowed into her collarbone but made no move to hug her back. Ellie doubted he had the strength to raise his arms. She pressed a kiss to his greasy hair and stroked his shaggy beard.

They stayed like that for a moment until Ellie thought she might fall asleep stood up so she pulled away to undo the buttons on his shirt.

“You can do your trousers. It’s not that kind of sleepover.”

The corner of Hardy’s mouth twitched. “Shame.”

Once he was down to his underwear, she encouraged him to shuffle towards the headboard and pulled the duvet over him. She expected him to moan about her babying him, but it never came.

His eyes fell shut the moment they hit the pillow but he pulled them open again when she brushed his fringe out of his eyes. Ellie quickly changed into her pyjamas, vaguely aware of Hardy half-watching her. She suspected her own exhaustion quelled her usual self-consciousness.

The moment she was settled on her side of the bed, Hardy turned over and snuggled into her side, only stopping when his head was resting over her heart. She wrapped her arms around him, carding her fingers in his hair.

He hummed against her clavicle when she kissed his temple. She deliriously wondered what everyone at work would say if she told them he was like a pet cat when he was tired.

“‘M’sorry,” he mumbled.

“What for?”

“Shouting.”

Ellie stopped stroking his hair and huffed. “That’s not why I’m angry. You need to look after yourself.”

“‘M’fine.”

“You haven’t slept in days,” she said as evenly as she could. “When was the last time you ate?”

There was a pause before he replied. “Dunno.”

“You have to stop this.” Ellie blinked back tears. Twice was already too many times to wait for him to wake up in a hospital bed. Now that he was so much more to her than her boss - now that she knew his daughter - the thought of him ending up there again was more than enough to upset her.

She tightened her hold on him, as though she could physically hold him back from his worst habits. There was no way she would sit back and watch him destroy himself, but she worried sometimes she wouldn’t be enough. She had never known anything quite like Alec Hardy on a mission.

Convinced Hardy had finally fallen asleep, Ellie closed her eyes and vowed she would save him from himself.

“He used to hit her.”

Ellie, sleep on the verge of taking her, didn’t open her eyes. “Hmm?”

“My da. Hit my mum. I was a wee scrawny shit. Couldnae do anything.”

Her blood turning to ice woke Ellie up more effectively than any alarm could have.

“I’m - I’m so sorry,” she whispered into the dark, completely lost for what else to say.

“‘S’okay. Done now,” Hardy mumbled. “But I can stop this bastard. I can.”

“You will,” Ellie reassured him fiercely. “We will.”

He said something indistinguishable and kissed her shoulder before falling still. Ellie listened to his breathing even out, worried her own would wake him up as she tried to suppress her tears.

She spent the remainder of the night knowing she wouldn’t sleep, cradling the man she loved like the scared child he had been, protecting him from the nightmares he still faced.


End file.
